Wind energy and lithium ion batteries

Southern California Edison Co. is testing the use of utility-size lithium-ion batteries to help store and transmit energy generated in eastern Kern County by wind and solar projects.

Funded by SCE and the U.S. Department of Energy, the demonstration project is being constructed east of Tehachapi..

The SCE’s battery energy storage system will demonstrate the effectiveness of an 8 megawatt – 4-hour (32 megawatt hours) – lithium-ion battery with smart inverter technology to improve and assist in the integration of intermittent energy resources, like wind and solar energy.

“Once this project is completed, SCE will evaluate a wide range of applications for lithium-ion batteries, which may spur broader demand for the technology,” wrote Lori O’Neill, SCE’s manager of project demonstration and testing in advance technology, in the October edition of the Kern Business Journal.

The project is expected to be operational early next year, with the demonstration phase to continue into 2015. Increasing the ability to transmit wind and solar energy produced in eastern Kern County is critical to the continuing expansion of the alternative energy industry.